Look at the Barcelona defence:
Valdes
Alves Puyol Mascherano Adriano
Busquets
Look at ours:
De Gea
Raphael Vidic Ferdinand Evra
Carrick
I'd be inclined to argue that at full strength we are probably stronger.
I'd rather have De Gea than Valdes even now, and he will be a much better keeper in a couple of years.
Similarly, although Alves has the edge over Raphael at the moment, there's 8 years between them. Alves is probably the best attacking fullback in the world at the moment, and he's shown he can keep world class attackers in his pocket as well. Saying that, I believe that Raphael will match his level. If we had 70% of the possession the way Barca often do, then his defending wouldn't be an issue, and the more we have of the ball, the more opportunity the boy would have to put those sweet crosses in the box.
Ferdinand and Puyol both have exceptional quality and experience, but both have age and fitness issues... a fair match.
Evans & Pique's performances over the last two seasons have averaged out... and they are probably about as good as each other, form dependent.
Vidic is better than Mascherano. It is admirable how Mascherano has adapted to find a place in the side, but he is just nothing on a fit Vidic.
Evra hasn't looked world class for a couple of seasons now, but is attitude and quality is there, he needs a settled defense to play in though. He is every bit as good as Adriano though.
Busquets, I can't stand his play acting, but he's a good player. Quietly blocks off space, makes interceptions, is always available for a pass and keeps it simple. Carrick is much in the same mould, Fletcher at his best had an added grit, Jones is developing. I can honestly see ourselves on a par here. Busquets would not greatly improve our team if we bought him.
It's the attack that's truly so special, and the way they defend from the front.
Fabregas Xavi
Sanchez Messi Iniesta
Here's how I feel we might line up in some games if we were to get Kagawa and Hazard.
Kagawa Scholes
Valencia Rooney Hazard
Scholes faded just towards the very end of the season, but he was third in the player of the year voting having played half a season. He can dictate tempo, keep possession, and pass & move as well as anyone. I think Xavi is probably the most fluid player on the planet, but Scholes is the best on these shores in that role. This is where I can see Cleverly developing, and alternating... but don't be surprised to see Scholes play the majority of the big games.
Kagawa is a special player, I think people underestimate just how good he really is. If you watch him you'll see that he's got great movement, vision & finishing ability, he's a great worker, but his greatest quality is the weight of his passing. I think he's more potent than Fabregas. If Anderson could get back to his early season form last season, then he'd be an ample deputy.
Hazard will score goals and create them too. He's hard to handle, impossible to pin down, and as Ferguson rightly pointed out, incredibly quick over the first 10 yards. He is certainly a match for Sanchez, and some people even believe that he can become as good as Ronaldo and Messi. I'm not sure about that, but he's a wonderful player, and good enough to wear the No.7.
It's very hard to leave Valencia out, Nani is a good alternative, and for 15/20 games a season so is Giggs... but for Valencia's sheer number of assists he has to be included. How does he stack up to Iniesta? He doesn't, they are completely different players, but what is key to this system is that they both work extremely hard. Valencia is truthfully probably more suited to the Premier League, but Iniesta is still the better overall player.
Rooney vs Messi... ok, they have us there.. but Rooney is a fantastic footballer... who, even if by his own standards wasn't that great this year, still scored a lot of goals.
I believe we could be as good as the top Spanish teams next season if we can sign Kagawa & Hazard and keep the majority of players fit.